Bit of roast quail sent me spinning in right direction

Clay Thompson is taking the week off. In his absence, we're publishing some of your favorite columns by him. This was published on Sept. 28, 2009.

Today's question:

We have two Pomeranian dogs, ages 5 and 3. They are half-sisters. When they get excited, such as when we prepare their food, they twirl as most dogs do. However, the older dog twirls clockwise, and the younger dog twirls counterclockwise. Why is this?

I actually did some field experiments on this one with my own dogs, Odd and Odder.

First of all, with an eye toward getting them excited, I told them we were going to the veterinarian's office. Unlike most dogs I've known, these two like going to the vet.

They are always just delighted to be there right up to the time the rectal thermometer is produced. They never see that one coming.

Anyway, that didn't seem to excite them at all. They just looked at me and went back to sleep, so I offered them some food. That excited them, but they didn't twirl. They just ate.

Next, I had a friend prepare me roast quail stuffed with pate and served in a pastry crust and determined I twirled in a clockwise direction. I think I know why your dogs and I twirl in the directions we do, although I haven't found any definitive proof.

First of all, puhleeze, don't write to me to say dogs twirl one way north of the equator and the other way south of the equator so these dogs must have been born in different hemispheres. I wouldn't put that past some of you people.

I think it has to do with handedness. Dogs and cats and lots of other animals can be right-pawed or left-pawed. So if the older dog is right-pawed, it would twirl clockwise toward its dominant side. And if the other dog is left-pawed, it would spin counterclockwise.